Volvo EX90 review

Is the Volvo EX90 a good car? 

As the brand's flagship car, the Volvo EX90 goes big on technology but retains some Scandinavian design to give it a unique presence in the premium SUV market. The interior quality is as you’d expect from a Volvo; it’s bright, airy and not as subdued as many of its German rivals. That, combined with the excellent amount of space and useful standard kit list means the EX90 will work well as family transport, so long as you’re reserving the rearmost seats for small children only. It’s also ludicrously quick for a family-orientated SUV in ‘Performance’ trim, but we suspect the pick will be the single-motor version coming later, which should address our concerns about pricing and efficiency. 

How much does the Volvo EX90 cost?

The EX90 aims to bring Volvo into a new premium realm - backed up by its pricing which starts at just under £100,000. With seven-seats and pure-electric power, the Volvo doesn’t actually have that many close rivals. Neither Audi nor BMW offers an EV with seven seats, while the Mercedes EQS SUV costs £30k more than the Volvo. Looking below, there are the Kia EV9 and the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 9 that provide all-electric motoring for seven, although they may not have the prestige a Volvo buyer will be looking for. 

Granted, the Volvo is currently only available in Twin Motor and Twin Motor Performance guises, with single-motor models coming later down the line. These combine more modest performance with a lower price – and we suspect they could be the pick of the range. If you want to prioritise range over straight-line speed, they could be worth waiting for.

There aren’t really any trim levels to speak of at the moment – just a single EX90 Ultra variant, which comes loaded to the gunwales with kit, including a 14.5-inch central display, nine-inch instrument binnacle, front and rear heated seats, a 25-speaker Bowers and Wilkins stereo, and wireless phone charging. There’s stuff like pixel-LED lights, 22-inch wheels and a heat pump, plus – this being a Volvo – loads of safety equipment.

Speaking of safety kit – some of the EX90’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) will be activated in May 2025 – a few months after the first customer deliveries. While initial test cars didn’t come with Apple CarPlay, we’ve been told this feature will be available in early 2025.

There are just two powertrain options for the Volvo EX90 from launch. The 107kWh (useable) battery is either paired with a dual-motor output in the creatively named ‘Twin Motor’ for 402bhp and 770Nm of torque, or you can have the ‘Twin Motor Performance’, which (as you’d guess from the name) increases power to 510bhp and torque to 910Nm. 

The EX90 is lower than the XC90, but it’s also longer and wider than its ICE sibling and with EV power, it’s substantially heavier, too. At 2,818kg the EX90 is just over 500kg heavier than the most portly version of the XC90, the T8 plug-in hybrid. 

While the EX90 might look rather similar to the XC90, Volvo has done more than simply take its big-selling combustion-engined SUV, slap a battery in it and call it a day. The EX90 sits on Volvo’s bespoke SPA2 electric architecture already seen in the new Polestar 3. To counter the EX90’s weight, Volvo has fitted a fancy new torque-vectoring system on the EX90 to distribute power between inside and outside wheels in the corners, adaptive air suspension as standard with self levelling and to make it easy to live with, an automatic one-pedal driving mode based on your driving habits.  

Volvo isn’t one to festoon its cars with a multitude of driving modes, though alongside the one-pedal mode selection, you can also change the steering weight and the suspension from ‘soft’ to ‘firm’. There’s also a setting to de-couple the rear motor power in the standard car for better efficiency and a ‘Performance’ mode in the Performance trim to boost power and allow for a “more active and dynamic driving experience” according to Volvo. 

What is the Volvo EX90 like to drive?

In town

In urban areas you’ll naturally want to set the steering and suspension to the ‘soft’ setting. The steering doesn’t feel overly light, with a suitably reassuring weight to it given the EX90’s mass. Despite it being a big seven-seater, the EX90 is pretty easy to navigate around tight areas thanks to its boxy shape. One odd feature is the shape of the windscreen - the Lidar positioning above means that it curves at the top. This isn’t really an issue for visibility, which is a pretty good, thick A-pillars aside. 

No amount of electronic trickery can completely disguise the 2.7-tonne kerb weight, which is most noticeable at slow speeds on rough roads. The 22-inch wheels are standard on the EX90 and we’re hoping the upcoming single-motor version will be offered with smaller alloys because there’s some fidgeting at times. Big speed bumps and potholes are pretty well damped, although there’s usually an audible thud. 

The pedal feel is a little jerky around town, too. The brakes, while delivering phenomenal performance at speed, can be difficult to modulate carefully - which is why most will stick one-pedal mode on and be done with it. There’s not much travel in the acceleration pedal before the EX90’s reserves of power kick in so you have to treat it with more finesse than expected here. 

The EX90 doesn’t feature rear-wheel steering. With a 1mm longer wheelbase than the XC90 the EV has a turning circle of 12.2 metres - about average for a car of this size but well down on the Mercedes EQS’s (with its rear-wheel steer) 10.9-metre figure.

On A- and B-roads

The driving dynamics of the EX90 are much better than you might imagine and probably more competent than it needs to be if it’s to go after traditional buyers of XC90s. 

The standard-fit air suspension manages to keep the EX90’s weight balanced into corners. It’s only when you’re abrupt with steering inputs that you gain a sense you’re carrying significant heft.

So long as you manage to scrub the speed sufficiently - easily done thanks to those strong brakes - you’ll have no trouble slingshotting out the other side. The base model will do 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds (4.9 seconds for the Twin Performance) and will be plenty quick enough for most, but the Performance does exactly what it says on the tin and feels noticeably quicker in a straight line at any speed - although no different in the corners.

On the motorway

While we’re not bowled over by the EX90’s low-speed ride, things become more refined at speed. The steering settles down so you have to make fewer inputs, the instant torque makes high-speed overtakes a doddle and the EX90’s suspension is compliant with imperfections serenely dealt with without feeling detached from the road.

On the motorway you’ll find the big electric Volvo to be a civilised cruiser and the brand’s claim of ‘the quietest Volvo ever made’ quite believable. Wind noise isn’t an issue in the EX90, although those big tyres make themselves heard. As with the XC90, Volvo’s wonderful seats are the biggest reason why you could easily eat up the car’s range in one sitting. 

0-60 acceleration and top speed

The Twin Motor manages a zero to 60mph sprint in 5.7 seconds, with the Performance reducing that time to 4.7 seconds. That gap is solely down to the Performance’s 510bhp and 910Nm output compared to the regular car’s 402bhp and 770Nm of torque. Volvo recently introduced a limited top speed of 122mph to all of its cars and that’s exactly what both EX90s will do. 

A single-motor version is coming and while we don’t know what power output it’ll have, it’s likely to borrow the set-up from its fellow SPA2-based sibling, the Polestar 3. That would mean a power output of around 295bhp and a 0-60mph time of roughly 7.5 seconds. 

Volvo says it’s taken inspiration from yacht design to help make sure the EX90 makes the most of its colossal 111kWh (107kWh usable) battery. That boils down to a sleek front end without the grille you’d find on the XC90, flush-fitting door handles and aerodynamically optimised wheels all contributing to a relatively low 0.29 drag coefficient. 

On paper, the results are pretty impressive with a 374-mile range for both the standard and Performance versions. Volvo claims you’ll see an average efficiency of 2.9mi/kWh, and during our first experience of the EX90 we managed to achieve this figure. That was done under favourable conditions on the west coast of America. In our more recent test we managed just 2mi/kWh around a cold and wet Berkshire. Despite the standard-fit heat pump, in wintery conditions, we saw a 70 per cent charge offering 170 miles of range – dropping to just 140 miles with the sportier dual-motor mode activated. This was achieved with two occupants - with seven on board you’d see even worse results. 

The EX90’s range and efficiency hinges on the environment, but as long as you can find a quick charger that shouldn’t matter too much. It’ll recharge at a rapid 250kW – even without the trick 800-volt architecture that underpins several Audi and Porsche products. That, Volvo claims, makes the EX90 good for a 10-80 per cent charge in around half an hour.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

An official range of 374 miles is what you’ll find in the EX90 Twin Motor – which is pretty competitive against the Mercedes EQS SUV (364 miles) and the BMW iX (380 miles). The Polestar 3, which is lighter and sleeker than the Volvo, comes with the same battery and can return up to 392 miles of range. The Polestar also has a single-motor version to bump this to 438 miles - although it’s worth remembering that the EX90 will soon get a single-motor offering, too. 

The EX90 comes with bi-directional charging – meaning you can use that big battery to send power to external appliances and even to the National Grid. An 11kWh on-board charger is included as standard as well. 

Tax

Given most EX90 owners will receive their cars from the ‘25’ plate change in 2025, we suspect they’ll all be subject to the loss of VED road tax exemption from April 1.

Insurance groups

Although it’ll be cheap to tax compared to a similar-sized petrol or diesel SUV, insurance will be equally expensive because every EX90 sits in group 50 - the highest band. Alongside a standard alarm and gear shift lock, the EX90 has an immobiliser and a ‘double lock’, the latter allowing for exterior and interior locking. 

Depreciation

Residual values are pretty good for the Volvo EX90, because our experts predict that even the most depreciation-prone Performance model will cling on to 57.16 per cent of its value after three years of 36,000 miles. The standard car will fare slightly better at 57.40 per cent - similar numbers to the Polestar 3. 

To get an accurate valuation for the Volvo EX90, check out our free car valuation tool... 

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Building on the successful second-generation XC90, which launched the best part of a decade ago, the all-electric EX90 gets a cleaner front end with an evolutionary take on that car’s ‘Thor’s Hammer’ daytime running lights. These are set into pixel-like segments and are animated, giving the car a unique ‘welcome’ signature when you lock or unlock the car. The rear end is typical Volvo, too, with a set of LED tail lights that stretch right up to the roofline.

The standard 22-inch wheels suit the car’s proportions well. They feature an interesting quirk where there’s no Volvo-branded centre cap, with a ‘Volvo’ script on one of the spokes instead. 

Depending on how into technology you are you may think the roof-mounted Lidar might act as a proud symbol of the EX90’s cutting edge software or make it look like a premium London taxi.

Both versions of the EX90 get a selection of no-cost paints. There are eight to choose from, with a dark ‘Mulberry Red’ the stand-out option for us. There’s a lot of gloss black elements to the EX90’s exterior - ranging from the roof rails, window surround and rear bumper and spoiler mouldings.

What is the Volvo EX90 like inside?

The design similarities of the EX90 to the XC90 carry over to the inside, although there are a few quirks to differentiate them. The cabin looks and feels more minimalist than the XC90. This does come at the expense of functionality to a degree but we don’t feel like the EX90 would be a hassle to live with. The dashboard is dominated by the 14.5-inch central screen with few physical buttons to speak of. The steering wheel utilises physical buttons that are also touch-sensitive - they’re perfectly easy to use, however. 

Like the new Polestar 3, the window switches on the EX90 consist of three buttons. To operate the fronts or rears you have to press a touch-sensitive button on the door - it’s a set-up we’ve seen in Volkswagen Group models previously, which have since backtracked on future models. We much prefer a traditional four-switch layout. 

There’s a range of three ‘Nordico’ faux-leather interior colours for the EX90: light grey, light brown or black. There’s also a wool blend option instead of the Nordico which is offered in a mix of black and light grey. We’d certainly opt for a bit of colour in the EX90, which can look a bit drab in pure black. 

What is the interior quality like?

Quality is very good, as you’d hope and expect on a car costing the best part of £100,000. Everything is tightly screwed together, and both the leather trim and more sustainable wool alternative feel high-end. The seats are supportive and comfortable, and ergonomically, everything seems to fit and fall to hand really nicely.

The EX90 will be built in China for some markets, although UK cars will come from South Carolina, USA. The only issue for us that arose during testing was the headlight swivel warning light came on - something that an over-the-air update would sort out in the coming months, we’re told. To ‘reset’ the EX90, the clear volume knob in the centre console needs to be held down - at which point the car’s infotainment system will turn off and on again. 

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

We’d love to say the brand learned from mistakes made on the smaller Volvo EX30, but the EX90 was designed first, so that’s not strictly true. Still, it’s good to see the maker’s flagship EV fitted with a set of easy-to-read digital dials and a head-up display – rather than channelling all that essential info through the main central screen.

It makes everything much easier to navigate. The main display runs Android Automotive (not to be confused with the car’s Android Auto smartphone tech) and is super slick and responsive. The inclusion of Google Maps (other apps are available) means you can search for nearly anything and it’ll effortlessly direct you to your destination, updating along the way to avoid traffic or include charge stops. Turn-by-turn mapping can be replicated in the instrument cluster, too.

Unfortunately, the test model didn’t feature Apple CarPlay, as well as some of the car’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), because they’re not ready yet. These will be added free of charge over the air (OTA) at around the same time as first customer deliveries. 

The exterior camera set-up is excellent, with a mix of 360-degree views along with a rear-view camera on the big screen to make parking much easier than you might think in such a big car. 

Elsewhere, the incredible Bowers and Wilkins stereo with Dolby Atmos needs to be heard to be believed, while the USB-C ports dotted around the cabin should ensure the family can keep their devices topped up. 

The EX90 seats seven, while measuring over five metres long and two metres wide. This is a big car, even if it doesn’t feel as cumbersome as a Kia EV9.

The benefit, of course, is a huge cabin with space for the whole family – regardless of whether you choose to prioritise people or luggage. 

If you’re more interested in how spacious the seats are, then it’s mixed news. Those up front and in the middle row receive plenty of space, though the two chairs in the third row are best reserved for children.

Dimensions and size

Being 84mm longer and 33mm wider than the XC90, the EX90 feels like a big car from behind the wheel, but it crucially doesn’t feel unwieldy. Its traditionally boxy SUV shape means it's relatively easy to pilot around tight, countryside villages with a lofty ride height for great visibility. 

How practical is the Volvo EX90?

Seats & space in the front

It might have a chunky battery underneath the floor and a high ride height, but it’s fairly easy to step into the EX90 because it sits a bit lower compared to the XC90. Once you’re in, you’ll notice how bright and airy the cabin is (if you avoid the black interior) thanks to the large window area and the standard-fit panoramic roof. 

Seats & space in the back

Those up front are treated to a first-class experience, with supportive leather (or wool)-lined chairs and loads of room to stretch out. Move to the middle row and despite the tiered, theatre-style seating, there’s certainly plenty of headroom. Legroom could be better, however, and while this is improved by sliding the seats rearward, that luxury comes at the expense of those in the very back.

The two rearmost seats, therefore, are best reserved for children. Especially as these chairs both come with ISOFIX points – a bizarre rarity in seven-seat cars. Those in the third row also get their own cupholders; passengers in row two are forced to use the central armrest to store their drinks, which is useless if you’re sitting three abreast.

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Boot space

With all seven seats in the place there’s 310 litres of boot space – that’s as much as most modern superminis, and more than enough room to squeeze in a few soft bags. 

The rearmost row folds into the floor at the touch of a button. Doing so frees up 655 litres to the windowline – or even more if you’re prepared to sacrifice your view out the back. In two-seat mode, there’s a van-rivalling 1,915 litres; officially down on the Mercedes EQS SUV, but you may find the Volvo’s more upright rear end makes it the more practical car outright. 

There’s room under the floor to put stuff out of sight, and there’s a frunk capable of keeping a charge cable or two. Annoyingly, it’s opened via a lever in the front footwell; Volvo isn’t alone in restricting access in this way, but we’d prefer a button on the key.

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Towing

If you choose the towing pack, at around £1,500, you’ll get mudflaps, a protective steel grille and an electric retractable tow bar that will allow for a towing capacity of 2,200kg. That’s much better than the 1,587kg the Mercedes EQS SUV offers. The EX90 also features the most important function of a good tow car: self-levelling air suspension. However, you will need to be careful with regard to the towing mirrors you’ll need, because the EX90 has a frameless side mirror design that you cannot clamp traditional extended mirrors to.

It goes almost without saying that Volvo’s safety record is second to none. And while the EX90 hasn’t yet been tested by Euro NCAP, we can only assume the maker will be aiming for a suite of class-leading scores across each of the main categories.

To help with this, the EX90 comes absolutely stacked with safety features, including side-impact protection, whiplash protection and run-off-road protection. That’s in addition to countless airbags and systems such as cross-traffic alert with autobrake and blind-spot warning with steering assist. 

The car even comes with eye-tracking technology with steering assist, which sounds an alarm if it thinks you’re getting distracted. Thankfully, it’s not particularly intrusive, and in our experience only really activates in extreme circumstances.

Equally, it’s too early to say how reliable the EX90 will be. Only one Volvo appeared in this year’s Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, with the ageing XC40 finishing just below mid-table (in 32nd spot); the Volvo brand slotted in at 16th (out of 32) – ahead of Audi and Mercedes, but just behind BMW. That said, premium makers often suffer in these surveys, due to the higher expectations of owners.

Warranty

The EX90 comes with a three-year or 60,000-mile warranty as standard. All new Volvo electric cars have an extended battery warranty valid for eight years or 160,000km (99,000 miles) or whichever comes first. During the warranty period, Volvo will guarantee a 70 per cent state-of-health for the battery.

Servicing

Volvo includes servicing for the same period as the main warranty. This comprises cabin filter replacement, tyre sealant replacement, windscreen cleaning sensors and software updates. As part of Volvo’s ‘wear and tear’ service, wiper blades, brake discs and brake pads can also be replaced.

Volvo EX90 alternatives

Because of its high price tag, the Volvo EX90’s rivals comprise the BMW iX, Mercedes EQE SUV and the Polestar 3 - which shares the same platform. Not all of those cars can offer the same seven-seat practicality as the Volvo, however the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 9 are worth considering for pure-electric seven-seater buyers.